Machine for finishing and smoothing floors.



MACHINE FOR-FINISHING AND SMOOTHING FLOORS.

' APPLICATION I'IL'ED MAY 22. 1907.

A TTJOTRNE VS W1 TNESSES GEORGE .P. BILLINGS, OF BAR HARBOR, MAINEMACHINE FOR FINISHING AND SMOOTI-IING FLOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

Application filed May 22. 1907. Serial No. 375.092.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. BILLINGS, ;a citizen of the United States,residing at Bar Harbor, in the county of Hancock and State of Maine,have invented a new and useful' Machine'for Finishing and SmoothingFloors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for fin shlngor smoothing floors andhas for its ob ect to simplify and'improve the construc- .tion ofdevices of this character.

Another object is to dispose the grinding ,or finishing heads at pointswhere they are at all times in view of the operator so that the.progi'ess and character of the work per' ormed by the machine can beseen at all times.

Another object is to utilize mechanism which will keep thefioor clean ofdust during the smoothing operation, the collection of the dust beingfacilitated by the' novel dispo- 'sition and arrangement of thefinishing or smoothing heads.-

A still further. objectis to provide a machine of this character whichcan bereadily tilted so as to lift the grindin or-smoothing heads out ofcontact with the oor and which will remainin tilted position as long asdesired. I

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction and combinations of parts which will behereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

\ In the accompanying drawings is shown the preferred form of theinvention.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine; andFig. 2 1s a section:

through a modified form of grinding head.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 is a truck frameprovided adjacent the center of its sides w1th supporting rollers 2,while at the rear end of the frame are small auxiliary rollers 3designed to con- "tact With the floor only when the truck frame I istilted out of operative position. v Extending upward from the truckframe are standards' 4 which support a top frame 5 suitably braced andhaving bars. 6 secured to the sides thereof and inclined therefrom, saidbars being'connected at their outer ends by a cross strip 7 constitutinga handle. Boxes 8 and 9 are secured to the front ends of the truck frameandthe top frame respectively and journaled therein 1s'a pair of uprightshafts on which is mounted a belt 13. receive motion from pulleys 14;located at'the 1-0 provided with collars 11 which .bear. against thelower ends of the boxes 9 and the upper ends'o'f the boxes 8respectively so as revent longitudinal movement of the sha ts. Eachshaft has-a pulley 12 thereon Both belts 'ends of a shaft 15 driven byan electric motor 16.- This motor is'mounted upon the "rear end portionof the truck frame and is provided with a suitable controller- 17mounted upon. the top frame 5.' The con-' troller is designed to beelectrically connected to a source .of electricity in anysuitable 70,

manner and a switch 18 may be provided for cutting off the current fromthe machine.

A receiver 19 is carried by the truck frame and I communicates with afan 20 through a tube. 21. The fan is designed to be driven by a .75

belt 22 receiving motion from the motor 16.

The lower end of the shaft 10 is provided with a head preferably in'theform of a disk 23 having an upstanding sleeve 24 designed to be securedto the shaft in any preferred.

manner as by means ofa set screw 24. The lower face of this disk may becovered with sand or emery paper which can be, secured. thereto in anysuitable manner, as by means of a ring 25,- If preferred, however, ahead such as shown in Fig. 2 may be employed and this head is inthe'form of a metal'disk 26 having openings 27 punched therethroughforming projecting points 28 constituting a rasp. A sleeve 29 extendsup-' 90 ward from the center of the disk and is designed to be fastenedupon either shaft 10.

It will be noted that the grinding heads are located at the front. endof the machine where they are in full view of the operator grasping thehandle 7. The entire device is balanced upon the rollers 2 so that bytilting thetruck frame 1 backward the rollers 3 will come in contactwith the round and the de-v vice will remain su porte with the heads 23out of contact witl i'the floor. By swinging the front end of the truckframe downward the heads 23 will be brought in contact with the floorand will be held in such position by the weight of the machine. Thebelts 13 are so disposed that when the motor 16 is operatingthe twoshafts 10 will be rotatedin the directions indicated by. the arrows inFig. 1. It is designed to rotate these shafts very rapidly and it is ofcourse apparent that the grinding heads will quickly smooth the surfacethereunder and as they rotate in the direction indicated it is apparentthat ,the dust produced will be thrown backward vunder the frame whereit will be taken up the suction established by fan 20.

y The dust will therefore be brought into the rece tacle 19. As theheads are disposed direct y un der the handle .7 they are at'all timesinfull view of the operator who can readily determine when a sufficientgrinding action has been produced at a certain point, Whenever it isdesired to stop the grinding o eration it is merely necessary to swingthe em end of the machine upward so that the roll.- ers 3 will come incontact with the fioor and while. the motor andthe parts driven therebywill continue to operate the heads 23 will be sup orted out ,of contactwith the floor.

The eads shown in Fig l are particularly designed to finish smoothsurfaces but whenever'it is desired to surface war ed edge'sof floorboards or to remove shel ac and the -sti-tuted for those described.

pose to connect it to a source ofelectncity y a long length to permitconsiderable movement of flexible wire which is of sufficient themachine overthe floor.

It will be obvious that the machine. hereindescribed can be effectivelyused for smoothing and polishing mosaic, tile, marble or other similarfloors in which event disks of emery or other suitable material may besubstituted for the heads 23 and 26. As it would be desirable for'suchdisksto rotate slower than where wooden floors are being finished largerpulleys are arranged upon the shaft 10 so'that the speed oflrotationwill'be diminished. What'is claimed is:

The combination with a portable tiltable frame; of shafts journaled uponone end of the frame, floor finishing devices revoluble therewith anddisposed to contact with thesurface thereunder and support the framewhen oscillated in one direction, means for simultaneouslyrotating theshafts in opposite directions and at the same speed, a receiver carriedby the frame and in rear of the shafts, said finishing devicesbeing-disposed to throw loosened material beneath the receiver, asuction device for establishing an air current upward through thereceiver, and

a handle above said floor finishing devices and extending beyond the endofthe frame.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoaffixedmy. ignature in the presence of two witnesses.

. GEORGE P. BILLINGS.

Witnesses:

FONTAINE R. JELLrsoN, FmNK E. WALLS.

